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Thu, 13 Mar 2014 11:50:19 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.4Facebook Declining Page Reach: 9 Experts Weigh Inhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vasimpleservices/zKkS/~3/mL3SQzsXZn0/facebook-declining-page-reach-9-experts-weigh-in
http://vasimpleservices.com/facebook-declining-page-reach-9-experts-weigh-in#commentsMon, 27 Jan 2014 14:13:22 +0000http://vasimpleservices.com/?p=4069As you may already know, Facebook’s organic Page reach (the number of unique people who saw your post in News Feed or on your Page) has been on a continuous decline for most Facebook Page owners for a while now. Facebook has confirmed in a recent post that due to the competition for each News Feed story, Page owners will most likely be reaching a smaller number of fans.

“Because the content in News Feed is always changing, and we’re seeing more people sharing more content, Pages will likely see changes in distribution. For many Pages, this includes a decline in organic reach.” Facebook December 5, 2013

I’ve also already discussed the fact that Facebook is now a pay-to-play platform in a previous article and questioned if you should dump your Facebook Page in 2014. Although this shouldn’t be a surprise, Facebook Page owners are very unhappy and annoyed with the fact that they now have to pay to reach their fans on Facebook.

As well, the idea of leveling the playing field to compete with their larger competitors seems to be slowly fading for many of them. The majority of small businesses simply don’t have the budget or resources!

Here’s a fantastic video created by Veritasium which reflects the views and frustrations of many Facebook Page owners.

The Problem With Facebook

The Experts

With Page reach plummeting, many Page owners are looking for advice to figure out how to best handle the situation. Here’s what Marketers and Industry Experts are saying about Facebook’s ongoing decreasing organic Page reach and their advice for business owners and marketers.

Mark Schaefer

Marketing consultant at Schaefer Marketing Solutions, Author, business writer, university lecturer, innovator and all-around great guy. Find him at businessesGROW.com and on Twitter @markwschaefer

What He Says:

The Facebook squeeze is a predictable result of too much content aiming for too little consumer attention. As one Facebook exec stated, the average user has 1,500 possible bits of content in their daily stream and it is growing fast.

I think the latest decline in reach is probably just the beginning. The options seem limited — pluck down the money Facebook requires for sponsored posts, somehow scale your efforts to try to break through organically, or find new ways to reach your customers that doesn’t involve Facebook.

Jon Loomer

Always providing his own analytic research, Jon Loomer offers Advanced Facebook marketing and advertising strategies for advanced Facebook marketers. Find him at jonloomer.com and on Facebook at Jon Loomer Digital

What He Says:

We’re focusing on the wrong metric. Reach is an inexact measurement, and Facebook can and has changed the way they measure it. In fact, there were even six months last year when it was under reported (and everyone freaked out, not knowing everything was fine the whole time).

A good example of this is that Facebook has been under reporting Organic Reach for the past few months when posts are promoted. Users can and will be reached organically and with an ad. In the past, Facebook would have measured that as one Organic Reach and one Paid Reach. Now, the only credit is going to Paid.

Is engagement down? Are website traffic referrals down? Are sales down? I couldn’t tell you if this is the case because virtually NO ONE is mentioning these things. These are the things that matter, yet we are obsessed with this one metric.
This one metric, by the way, that isn’t available to us on other social networks. No one cares what their Reach is on Twitter (you can bet it’s awful) or Google+ (yikes!).

You should continue to share high quality content that helps your target audience. You will continue to reach those who engage most with you.

But if you want to reach more people, share more often. And, of course, don’t be afraid to advertise.

Andrea Vahl

Social Media Consultant, Speaker and Strategist. Co-author of the book Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies . Also known as, Grandma Mary – Social Media Edutainer. Find her at andreavahl.com and on Twitter @AndreaVahl

What She Says:

Facebook’s announcement of the decrease in organic reach for page owners has a lot of people very frustrated (myself included). But I don’t think that this means we should all close our Facebook Pages right now.

What we need to focus on is getting people to sign up for our e-mail lists with creative promotions. Then we also will need to spend some money on Facebook ads each month (it doesn’t have to be a lot). And we also need to keep watching what is working on our pages to get that engagement and reach.

Shelly Kramer is the Founder and Chief Imagination Officer of V3 Integrated Marketing. She describes herself as a marketing/digital strategist, geek, tech lover, idea generator, gadget addict, WWF-loving, wordsmith-y kinda gal. Totally down to earth and smart business woman, you can find her www.v3im.com and on Twitter @ShellyKramer

What She Says:

I think that we marketers have been smoking the Facebook crack for a long time and if we didn’t see this coming, it’s our own fault. Facebook is a business. They’re a publicly traded company and their mission is to make money and a return on investment for their shareholders. Their job isn’t to provide a free platform for businesses to use to attract customers and sell more stuff to more people.

The adage that if “it’s free you’re the product” has never been more applicable than it is in regard to this discussion. Facebook needed users to make its platform valuable. Marketers flocked there, businesses flocked there because people – the people we want to reach are there.

For us to expect to leverage a platform to grow our businesses – no matter what they are – and to not have to pay to reach those prospective customers is ludicrous. So instead of complaining about lack of reach, brands, marketers and even small business owners need to get smarter about marketing. They need to understand that if they want access to Facebook’s user base, they’ll likely have to pay for it by buying Facebook Ads (which, in some cases are highly effective).

They’ll also have to be smart enough to develop a marketing strategy that doesn’t involve putting all their eggs in the Facebook basket. They need to focus on integrated marketing campaigns and on building their own databases and using Facebook (and other social media channels) to help them grow their own customer lists so that they can market directly to their customers outside of a platform owned by someone else. It’s not rocket science, it’s smart marketing.

And this isn’t some revelation — it’s always been dangerous to rely on a “free” platform over which you have no control. So when people are all up in arms about this, I’m really not sure why. Unless it was just that they were so consumed by the Facebook crack that they just weren’t considering the inevitable road ahead.

Does this impact small businesses who want to use social media to reach their customers? Absolutely. Do they, too, need to be smarter when it comes to the investment of marketing dollars and being strategic about how they interact with current customers and attract prospective customers? Absolutely.

Is it actually smarter for small businesses to understand the power of the Web in general, focus on having a well-developed business website, using smart SEO and combining their efforts in that regard with strategic social media marketing? You guessed it — absolutely!

Robert Caruso

Founder and CEO of BundlePost, Robert is a long time technology, sales and marketing executive, a father of 2 and passionate about tech and social media. You can find him on BundlePost.com and on Twitter @fondalo

What He Says:

There are two groups that will be hit hardest due to Facebook’s pay to play changes. They are the average user and the SMB (small/medium sized business). Users on one hand just simply want to see the content from pages they have already liked and businesses want to reach the users they have already invested heavily to acquire. Both are hurt by what Facebook is doing. Here’s the problem… The business model that Facebook is deploying with pages will not work long-term and more importantly it isn’t sustainable.

If average businesses and marketers can’t obtain real results using social media marketing without the advertising spend, then social media marketing has become something else and the entire house of cards is in jeopardy, including the business of teaching about Facebook.

Based on what everyone already knows about this issue there are only three things that the social media marketer can do.

1) Do some minimal testing of boosted Facebook posts where it makes sense. If the result of increased traffic and ultimately real revenue occurs, then repeat it and scale it up. If the results do not justify the cost, cease immediately.

2) Adjust your posting and content types to maximize your reach based on what Facebook has already said they are doing and going to do further.

3) Finally, you have to get effective on the other social platforms where your audience spends time in the highest concentrations. Do a deep review of your strategy and execution on these other social networks and invest substantially more time where your reach is not being controlled and you’re not required to spend money to communicate with the audience you build.

Scott Stratten

Scott Stratten is the President of Un-Marketing. He is an expert in Viral, Social, and Authentic Marketing. He also has written three best-selling business books. You can find him at unmarketing.com and on Twitter @unmarketing

What He Says:

Always entertaining and honest, Scott Stratten made his opinion very clear in this video. He thinks that businesses have built their houses on rented land and it’s time brands start paying Facebook. He also suggests that if businesses are unhappy or unwilling to pay, they should simply go somewhere else where they can build their “own house” and stop depending on Facebook.

Brands: Stop Complaining About Facebook

In a recent interview on the Social Media Marketing Podcast, Mari Smith and Jay Baer discussed along with Michael Stelzner the issue of Facebook’s declining Reach and offered some advice for Page owners.

Mari Smith

Mari Smith is a social media strategist and widely recognized as one of the top Facebook marketing expert in the world. She is the author of The New Relationship Marketing and coauthor of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day. You can find her at marismith.com and on her Facebook Page Mari Smith

What She Says:

Mari admits that people are very frustrated with Facebook’s reduced reach. Some business owners are even saying “the heck with it” and are abandoning their Page and turning to their Personal Profiles instead. She thinks this is somewhat of an uninformed decision. According to her, there are a many benefits in using a Page versus a Personal Profile such as the use of apps and analytics. One other great reason to have a Page she says is that it’s completely indexed. So for SEO purpose alone, it’s worth it.

Mari also suggests that you should use Facebook ads even if it’s just $5 per day. But if you don’t have a budget, there are still things you can do. Use your Personal Profile in conjunction with your Page and turn on the Followers option on your Profile (given the fact that Facebook favors post from Personal Profile). As well, using Facebook Groups can be a great addition and beneficial for community building.

Finally, have a solid business plan and use Social Media as an amplifier.

Mari’s message: You can’t put all your eggs in Facebook’s basket. 2014 has to be the year of diversification and integration.

Jay Baer

Jay Baer is a digital marketing strategist, speaker, and author and founder of Convince & Convert. You can find him on convinceandconvert.com and on Twitter @JayBaer

What He Says:

Jay acknowledges that Facebook is not working as well as it once did for marketers. Facebook is now a public company who needs to generate tones of advertising dollars.

He says in his interview that they’ve predicted this for years and this is the oldest business playbooks in history which is; “let’s let you get in something free i.e. free exposure to your fans on Facebook and then let’s make it not free once you’re hooked on it.”

According to him, Facebook has certainly set this up so that businesses now need to pay for some of the exposure that was formally free.

He thinks that this is a Natural evolution; it’s becoming more about the media and less about the Social. It’s going to be about dollars, not just about being interesting, spicy or fun and Social Media is turning into an advertising platform.

Jay says that paid social will be a requirement for almost all businesses and you’ll definitely have to pay for social to reach its maximum effectiveness.

He believes that some brands are too Facebook centric and have built houses on rented land. Jay says that he wouldn’t be surprised if 2014 was the year Google Plus became a thing because people are looking for alternatives.

But Jay confesses that even professionals don’t know the secret code. He thinks that you can still be effective on Facebook for free but it’s becoming increasingly difficult. It shouldn’t be a surprise for businesses, what else truly valuable in marketing is free?

Jay suggests playing the algorithm game to make sure your posts get the maximum organic reach. It takes time and practice but it’s not hard. Jay stresses the importance of needing to “own” some assets.

He also recommends being smart integrated marketers and understand what amongst all the different marketing tactics at your disposal works best for your business; it might or not be Facebook.

Michael Stelzner

What He Says:

Michael showed great concern for small business owners and brands using Facebook to market their business. But he thinks that if you’re putting all your eggs in twitter or Facebook you’ll be in serious trouble. He believes that businesses need to allocate a percentage of their budget to assets that they call their own.

The Final Message

There are 1.19 billion monthly active users on Facebook, so it would seem like it would be the logical place for marketers to spend their time. But for frustrated business owners who have already put in a lot of time and energy on Facebook marketing or want to get in at this point but are working with a limited marketing budget, they will now have to face this new reality; Facebook marketing is much harder, you’ll now have to be very resourceful and expect to pay to reach your audience.

It’s also reasonable to think that we might be seeing this happening more with time as other social networks are also looking for a way to monetize their platform.

The most important message from the Experts: Don’t put all your eggs in Facebook’s basket, diversify and make sure that you don’t build your business on rented land; you need to “own” your main digital real estate.

Have you experienced a decline in Page Reach? How are you dealing with it?

]]>http://vasimpleservices.com/facebook-declining-page-reach-9-experts-weigh-in/feed15http://vasimpleservices.com/facebook-declining-page-reach-9-experts-weigh-in15 Smart Quotes to Help You Start the Year on the Right Foothttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vasimpleservices/zKkS/~3/Gsl54Z7D-jc/15-smart-quotes-to-help-you-start-the-year-on-the-right-foot
http://vasimpleservices.com/15-smart-quotes-to-help-you-start-the-year-on-the-right-foot#respondMon, 30 Dec 2013 15:28:59 +0000http://vasimpleservices.com/?p=4035

A few wise words may be all you need to get you back on track or get you going this New Year. Here are some smart quotes from some very clever entrepreneurs, speakers and authors.

“Marketing is not a task. Marketing is not a department. Marketing is not a job. Marketing happens every time you engage (or not) with your past, present, and potential customers.”

7. REMARKABLE

“Even when you are marketing to your entire audience or customer base, you are still simply speaking to a single human at any given time. Worry less about sounding professional and worry more about creating remarkable content that other humans can relate to.”

“Never accept or be too comfortable with the status quo, because the companies that get into trouble are historically the ones that aren’t able to adapt to change and respond quickly enough.”

9. WANT

“You can’t have everything you want, but you can have the things that really matter to you.”

10. REPUTATION

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

~Warren BuffettBusinessman and Investor

11. MISTAKES

“The number one reasons I see entrepreneurs failing isn’t because they make mistakes, but they keep on making the same ones over and over again. Learn from them and avoid making the same ones over again.”

If you have a Facebook Business Page, I’m certain you have noticed the drastic decline in post reach lately. It’s nothing new; we’ve seen a steady decline in reach for a while now.

The difference is that now the average organic post reach (how many people see your posts in their newsfeed) seems barely worth the effort for many Business Page owners.

Facebook’s Message to Page Owners

Facebook made it very clear in a recent blog post that this trend is not going away and you should expect further decline in reach. They also strongly recommend buying ads if you want to increase your reach.

“…competition for each News Feed story is increasing. Because the content in News Feed is always changing, and we’re seeing more people sharing more content, Pages will likely see changes in distribution. For many Pages, this includes a decline in organic reach. We expect this trend to continue as the competition for each story remains strong and we focus on quality.

…Page owners should continue using the most effective strategy to reach the right people: a combination of engaging Page posts and advertising to promote your message more broadly.”

Leaving Facebook

We have to acknowledge that Facebook can be a valuable platform where you could “potentially” reach a large segment of your customers! After all, it has 727 million daily active users on average and 1.19 billion monthly active users (as of September 2013). Abandoning Facebook may not necessarily be the best choice for your business, especially if you have a large following or an active community.

However, Facebook has made it clear that in order to reach your customers you will have to fork out some cash (pay to play). You’ll have to decide if it makes financial sense to allocate some of your budget to have a higher reach and visibility on Facebook.

But if you don’t have the budget to invest in Facebook Ads or if your Page is not working for you, it is probably best to start considering investing your time elsewhere.

Where to Spend Your Time in 2014

Facebook Groups

If you don’t want to give up on Facebook, you should consider starting or joining some targeted Facebook Groups. If the Group has a good moderator and is active, it can be a great place to share your expertise and create visibility for your business.

Remember, in general it is best to avoid posting your latest sales pitch to other members unless explicitly mentioned in the group description. If in doubt, reach out to the group moderator.

Other Social Networks

To find the best place(s) to connect with your customers, you first need to understand each social network, its purpose and the demographic. You also need to have clear goals and determine your resources. Make sure to do your homework before jumping in.

LinkedIn

One of the great benefits of LinkedIn is that it has significantly less noise than Facebook since users are on the platform for business purpose only. So you won’t see “cute” baby or cat pictures cluttering your newsfeed.

As well, HubSpot found that traffic from LinkedIn generated the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate at 2.74%, almost 3 times higher (277%) than both Twitter (.69%) and Facebook (.77%).

Pinterest

“As the 3rd most popular social networking website in the world, Pinterest can be a great tool for ecommerce stores to use to increase site traffic and boost sales.

… After analyzing data from 25,000 Shopify stores, we discovered that referral traffic from Pinterest to Shopify stores is equal to traffic coming from Twitter. Of the traffic from Pinterest, shoppers are 10% more likely to make a purchase compared to those who arrive from other social sites. Of those purchases, the average order is $80 – double the average order of customers coming from Facebook”.

Google+

Launched in 2011, Google Plus is still a young platform. Although some people haven’t embraced the social network yet, the power of Google is undeniable (let’s not forget that Google IS the King of search).

According to Google, there are 540 million people active across Google each month, 300 million people active in just the stream. Additionally, Google+ features and integration with other Google products make this platform extremely interesting.

YouTube

YouTube is the third most popular website in the world and according to Nielsen, it reaches more US adults ages 18-34 than any cable network. As well, with more than 1 billion unique users visit each month and over 6 billion hours of video watched each month (that’s almost an hour for every person on Earth, and 50% more than last year YouTube is definitely worth adding to your marketing strategy in 2014.

Acquired by LinkedIn in 2012, SlideShare is the world’s largest community for sharing presentations. With 60 million monthly visitors and 130 million pageviews, it is amongst the most visited 200 websites in the world. Besides presentations, SlideShare also supports documents, PDFs, videos and webinars. (Slideshare.net)

Slideshare Pro version allows you to have access to the analytic features, remove ads, use lead capture forms, upload videos and control your branding.

The Must-Haves

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a great way to stay top of mind, build deeper relationships and helps earn trust with your customers. It is an effective strategy for prospects and lead nurturing. Focusing on building and growing your list in 2014 will definitely pay off in the long run.

Here are 10 Email Marketing Tips:

In general, the less information required to opt in, more sign-ups you’ll get

Are you planning on dumping your Facebook Page in 2014?

]]>http://vasimpleservices.com/should-you-dump-your-facebook-page-in-2014/feed3http://vasimpleservices.com/should-you-dump-your-facebook-page-in-2014Teens on the Web: What Every Parent Should Knowhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vasimpleservices/zKkS/~3/qAnztLy02W4/teens-on-the-web-what-every-parent-should-know
http://vasimpleservices.com/teens-on-the-web-what-every-parent-should-know#commentsThu, 27 Jun 2013 18:18:25 +0000http://vasimpleservices.com/?p=3952As internet users, we need to take an active role in protecting our privacy and safety, and to help our children do the same by teaching them about appropriate online behavior and how to be responsible digital citizens.

Always connected through various devices, 95% of teens are using the internet today which makes them an extremely digital-savvy generation (source: pewinternet.org).

But many parents are totally clueless!

According to a study, around 80% of parents said that they don’t even know how to find out what their kids are doing online (source: internet-safety.yoursphere.com).

This gap between parents and teens often creates a disconnect and a challenge in how they can participate in the online world together.

TEENS AND SOCIAL MEDIA

16% of teen social media users have set up their profile to automatically include their location in posts.

19% have posted updates, comments, photos, or videos that they later regretted sharing.

26% say that they post false information like a fake name, age, or location to help protect their privacy.

(Source: pewinternet.org)

Privacy Risks Definition *This is my own interpretation and rating system

HIGH Account is totally public.

MEDIUM Account includes Privacy settings but you have to turn them on.

LOW The default settings are Private.

GEO-LOCATION services will publish a user’s physical location. Make sure to have those turned off on all devices including mobile.

POPULAR SITES TEENS USE

FACEBOOK

Facebook is a social networking website launched in February 2004 with over 1.11 billion monthly active users as of March 2013.

STATS

The typical (median) teen Facebook user has 300 friends

33% are Facebook friends with other people they have not met in person.

Some 60% of teens ages 12-17 who use Facebook say they have their profile set to private, so that only their friends can see it.

Another 25% have a partially private profile, set so that friends of their friends can see what they post.

And 14% of teens say that their profile is completely public.

Source: pewinternet.org

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT FACEBOOK

THREAT FACTOR

Bullying

Privacy

Peer rejection

Oversharing

Self-Esteem issues

Facebook Depression*

*Facebook Depression

Researchers have proposed a new phenomenon called “Facebook depression,” defined as depression that develops when preteens and teens spend a great deal of time on social media sites, such as Facebook, and then begin to exhibit classic symptoms of depression.

Acceptance by and contact with peers is an important element of adolescent life. The intensity of the online world is thought to be a factor that may trigger depression in some adolescents. As with offline depression, preadolescents and adolescents who suffer from Facebook depression are at risk for social isolation and sometimes turn to risky Internet sites and blogs for “help” that may promote substance abuse, unsafe sexual practices, or aggressive or self-destructive behaviors. Source: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.full

PRIVACY RISKS-MEDIUM

Privacy settings work differently for minors than for adults. Facebook has additional protections and security settings for teens age 13-17. While under 18, the maximum audience minors can share with is “friends of their friends”. So, if minors choose Public as an audience option, sharing is limited to their friends of friends until they turn 18.

In contrast, when adults choose Public, their audience selection includes everyone on the internet.

Keep in mind that certain information is always made public even for minors such as Facebook profile pictures, cover images, gender, username, user ID and your networks like school or workplace (if they choose to add them).

Facebook requires in their terms that each user use their real name when opening a Facebook account but many fake profiles have been created and used to fool other users.

Users can generally control how they share information and set their privacy

MOBILE APPS

78% of teens now have a cell phone, and almost half (47%) of those own smartphones.

One in four teens are “cell-mostly” internet users, who say they mostly go online using their phone and not using some other device such as a desktop or laptop computer. (Source: pewinternet.org)

INSTAGRAM

Free mobile app which allows to Snap photos and videos with your mobile phone and apply filters. You can also share your photos or videos on Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter. Owned by Facebook, Instagram has 100 million monthly active users.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT INSTAGRAM

THREAT FACTOR

Privacy

Oversharing

Bullying

Self-esteem issues

PRIVACY RISKS-MEDIUM

You can choose to make your account private. Only people who follow you will be able to see your photos.

]]>http://vasimpleservices.com/teens-on-the-web-what-every-parent-should-know/feed1http://vasimpleservices.com/teens-on-the-web-what-every-parent-should-knowCreate Powerful Content Based on Your Buyer Personahttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vasimpleservices/zKkS/~3/7JWDwkhEJ8c/create-powerful-content-based-on-your-buyer-persona
http://vasimpleservices.com/create-powerful-content-based-on-your-buyer-persona#commentsTue, 28 May 2013 15:33:40 +0000http://vasimpleservices.com/?p=3934Content marketing is focused not on selling, but on simply communicating with customers and prospects. The idea is to inspire business and loyalty from buyers by delivering “consistent, ongoing valuable information.” wikipedia.org

Not knowing exactly who you’re trying to attract with your content and marketing messages is a common issue among small business owners. Many businesses try to appeal to everyone with the idea that they don’t want to leave potential customers out, but this often leads to mix messages and confusion.

Narrowing your market and focusing on a particular niche is really important but you also need to go further and understand your buyer persona to be able to craft targeted messages and content which will attract the right customers.

What is Buyer Persona?

Buyer persona is a representation of your ideal customers which provides a detailed description of a typical buyer or target audience.

Understanding exactly who you’re trying to attract and their stories will allow you to better craft your messages and create relevant and valuable content that will appeal to the right people.

Answer some of the following questions to identify buyer personas

° Gender

° Age

° Family and marital status

° Job description

° Financial situation

° Education

° Geography

° Daily activities

° Hobbies

° Habits

° How do they use the web

° Their challenges or pain points

° Their goals

° What are their most pressing needs

The more elements you know about your buyers or prospects, the easier it will be to focus your efforts on the right people.

You may have to figure out several different buyer persona based on your various products or services. You’ll have a better success rate if you focus on connecting to each different buyer persona individually.

Buyer Persona Example

Let’s look at an example of fictitiousbusiness that creates custom ceramics and sells their creations online to customers all over the United States and Canada. They may have several different buyer personas according to their different products. In this case, lets say that this business is selling a line of custom ceramics for weddings gifts.

Here’s an example of the possible buyer persona for this line of products:

Female in her late-twenties, engaged to be married, living in her first home which she and her fiancé recently purchased in the suburbs somewhere in the United States. She is a professional, college graduate with an average family income over $90,000 but has no children yet. She is pretty crafty, environmentally conscious, enjoys lifestyle TV shows, she’s a great cook and likes to entertain. She’s reasonably tech savvy, follows a few blogs, loves to use Pinterest to research ideas for her wedding and has been a Facebook user for many years. She’s getting married in the next year.

Her challenges are to find items to add to her wedding gift registry which represents her personality and will not only be useful but also will be one of a kind items that she can pass on to her own children in the future.

Her main pain points are that most gift ideas are very generic and doesn’t reflect her personality. As well, her guests live around the globe and don’t all have access to the same retail stores.

Now What?

Focusing on developing your buyer persona(s) which represents the customers who are most likely to purchase what you offer will make it much easier to create content that will attract, educate and resonate with those potential buyers.

When you tie together the buyer persona to your content, you will be able to figure out:

° The kind of content you need to create and the format you should use

° How can you solve their pain points

° The tone and style you should develop

° The topics you should focus on

° The type of content that will make them tick or produce a desired reaction

When creating content, always think about who you’re trying to reach and their specific buyer persona. Your content and topics should speak directly to your target customer.

Creating Content for Our Buyer Persona Example

This is how you could create your content around our buyer persona illustrated above.

Knowing that she is well educated and reasonably tech savvy, you should take that into consideration when developing your style.

Some topics that may attract this particular buyer could be centered around weddings (there are endless topics right here), gift giving, crafts, newlyweds, hosting parties, buying a first home, using unique and personal items for home décor, advantages of online stores, how to pick unique pieces, creating family heirlooms, how to buy environmentally friendly gifts, etc The content and topics should be created around the business and the products offered.

Knowing that this ideal customer is on Pinterest and Facebook, creating visual content would also be important. As well, this business should take advantage of SEO (search engine optimization) by using keywords in their content which this buyer persona would use when searching for similar products or topics.

Why Are Buyer Personas Important for Your Business

Buyer personas are necessary for helping you understand who you are selling to, what their pain points are and how your products or services can be applied to meet their needs. Most importantly, your content should provide value to your ideal customer.

Remember that just like your marketing strategy, your buyer persona may change or evolve over time so make sure to review and adjust accordingly.

Are you creating content that is attracting your ideal customer?

]]>http://vasimpleservices.com/create-powerful-content-based-on-your-buyer-persona/feed1http://vasimpleservices.com/create-powerful-content-based-on-your-buyer-personaShould You Leave Facebook for Google Plus?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vasimpleservices/zKkS/~3/RNqBQCO2YaQ/should-you-leave-facebook-for-google-plus
http://vasimpleservices.com/should-you-leave-facebook-for-google-plus#commentsFri, 17 May 2013 19:35:01 +0000http://vasimpleservices.com/?p=3919Ever since Google+ was launched back in 2011, it’s constantly being compared to Facebook. Anytime a new feature is introduced on either platform, they’re being accused of copying or competing with each other.

It seems like users are either on one side of the fence or the other. The rumors usually goes both ways: Google is a ghost town or angry Facebook users are moving to Google+.

Is there really only room for one social media platform? There are definite benefits and downfalls to both platforms but for business owners who are usually short in resources, focusing their efforts in the right place(s) is crucial.

Comparing Growth

Google+

GlobalWebIndex recently reported that Google+ is now the second-biggest social platform worldwide after Facebook with 343 million active users. There’s seem to be some confusion on how those numbers were calculated as various other Google products are included within those numbers.

Nonetheless, according to data published by Google in December 2012, more than 135 million Google+ users were active in just the stream. As of May 2013, that number has increased to 190 million users.

Facebook has seen a consistent increase in active users since it was founded in 2004. There were 665 million Daily active users on average for March 2013, an increase of 26% year-over-year (source: TechCrunch.com) and 1.11 billion monthly active users as of March 2013 (source: Facebook.com).

Although growth has slowed in countries such as the US and Canada as well as in Europe, the company has grown by 54 million monthly active users, a 23.2% increase from Q1 2012 (source: insidefacebook.com).

Time Spent on Site

Mashable recently reported that time spent on Facebook has decreased to 6 hours 44 minutes per month from 7 hours, 9 minutes per person in March.

Although the time spent on Google+ is substantially lower than Facebook (around 7 minutes), it is slowly going up. It remains to be seen if Google users will increase their time on the platform with the popularity of Google Communities and Google Hangouts.

Why Would Facebook User Want to Move to Google Plus?

Facebook EdgeRank

Unless you’re investing in Ads and Promoted Posts, Facebook has made it increasingly difficult for business users to reach their audience. Facebook claims to have an algorithm formula called Edgerank in place to “improve the quality” of the user experience on the site, but many users believe that it’s more about shareholders than users.

Logically, business owners should not expect to be able to advertise their business for free on Facebook and a marketing budget should be allocated for Facebook Ads. The problem seems to be that Page owners can’t seem to reach their fans without having to continually fork out some cash even if their fans are obviously interested in what they have to say (after all, they did click on the Like button).

Perhaps as some have suggested, a better option may be to give business owners the choice to pay an upfront fee or a monthly subscription based on the size of their fan base.

Facebook Usability

Another frustration for users seems to be Facebook’s terrible interface. With every new feature released, there seems to be a flood of complaints about the changes and the lack of stability for the platform. Facebook cover rules, threaded comments, Facebook ads and other wonky features are a continuous source of annoyance for Facebook users.

Facebook mobile app is also notorious for being very slow, crashing and lacking desired features.

Facebook Fatigue

It has also been reported that teens are suffering from Facebook fatigue and are starting to spend more time on other platforms. Teens shouldn’t be ignored since they constitute a consumer segment worth $819 billion. This is also significant for Facebook since what people do and say on social media considerably influences the purchase decisions of customers.

Another research by Pew Internet & American Life Project in December also indicated that more than a quarter of Facebook users surveyed said they planned to spend less time using the service in 2013 than they did last year.

Google’s Advantages

The growing impact of Google+ on Google’s search engine ranking is one of the most common arguments why businesses feel the need to increase their presence on the network. After all, Google+ is Google and Google is the main go-to source for search for the majority of web users.

Having a Google+ profile also allows you to claim your authorship markup. Google Authorship markup is a way for Google to show within the search results who’s the author of a specific piece of content. The result shows a picture of the author and displays a link to the author’s Google+ profile. Authorship markup may be useful to help you stand out in search results and increase the click through rate to your site.

As well, the integration of Google products within Google+ and a superior interface makes Google+ a very attractive platform. Google+ can be very beneficial for businesses not only as a social platform but also as a business collaboration tool.

There are also advantages for being an early adopter on Google+. You have the ability to cut through the noise and become the go-to resource and leader in your niche which is something that is becoming increasingly difficult to do on Facebook.

What Should YOU do as a Business Owner?

Although looking at the number of Facebook users and time spent on the site, it may look like a no brainer, but unless you’re paying to have your posts seen by your fans it may not be as obvious. This decision may also depend on your niche and how successful you are at building your community and engaging your fans on Facebook.

With Facebook’s astonishing market penetration, it may be very difficult to believe that users would ever switch to Google+, especially after having invested so much time on Facebook.

One of the biggest argument businesses are making as to why they are not on Google+ is that their customers are on Facebook and not on Google+. Although this is a valid point, let’s not forget that Google+ is barely 2 years old so it will take time to build trust with internet users.

While as a business owner you may have a preference for one platform or the other, keep in mind that your own personal preference doesn’t really matter! Remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to social media but knowing exactly who your target market is and understanding the purpose of each platform should help you decide where you should spend your time.

What do you think, which platform works best for your business?

]]>http://vasimpleservices.com/should-you-leave-facebook-for-google-plus/feed3http://vasimpleservices.com/should-you-leave-facebook-for-google-plusTop 10 Must Read Tips to Run a Successful Facebook Business Pagehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vasimpleservices/zKkS/~3/Lp5kHcieFVA/top-10-must-read-tips-to-run-a-successful-facebook-business-page
http://vasimpleservices.com/top-10-must-read-tips-to-run-a-successful-facebook-business-page#commentsFri, 10 May 2013 15:19:19 +0000http://vasimpleservices.com/?p=3904Marketing your business on Facebook is something that should be well planned and requires that you understand the platform to insure the success of your Business Page.

Here are 10 tips you can use to run a successful Facebook Business Page:

1. Find the Answers

Why: Why should you be on Facebook?

Not every business should be on Facebook! Figure out where your target market is and focus on the platform(s) that will have the highest pay off for your business.

What: What are your goals or what are you trying to achieve.

Some of your Goals may be:

Create brand and/or product awareness

Build a community

Show your expertise

Educate

Stay top of mind

Increase your reach

Generate traffic to your website

Build new partnerships

Provide Customer Service

Increase sales, Etc.

Who: Who is your target?

Have a clear idea of who you want to reach on Facebook. The more you know about them, the better you can target your message.

How: How are you going to get there?

Figure out which best strategy will help you achieve each goal. Strategies are never set in stone, you need to review and revise as needed.

2. Use the Space Given Wisely

Facebook gives you space which can leave a lasting impression on your Page visitors. Make sure to pay close attention to your Cover image, Profile image and About section.

Cover image size: 851 pixels by 315 pixels and may not include more than 20% text.

The types of information that appear in the summary box are specific to your Page’s category. The About section under your profile image may allow for your to write around 155 characters which will be visible on your profile. Make sure to include your website address if you can.

3. Your Cover Should Talk

Your Cover image is prime real estate on your Facebook Page and it’s the first thing your Page visitors will notice. Your Cover image should express who you are as a business and your Page visitors should understand what your business is about at a glance.

4. Post Regularly

Posting at random or not regularly enough can leave a negative impression on your page visitors and affect your reach. Also, posting too frequently can have an adverse effect on your Page engagement. Find your rhythm by testing your frequency and watching your numbers to optimize engagement.Creating acontent calendar can help you stay on track and makes the process easier to manage.

5. Understand the Platform

Facebook EdgeRank

Did you know that not all your fans see your posts?Actually probably less than 16% of your fans see your Page posts! Edgerank determines what posts appear on a Facebook user’s newsfeed. Facebook EdgeRank formula includes:

Affinity: Measures the relationship between the viewing user and the creator of the story. The closer the relationship the higher the score.

Weight: Different types of posts carry different weights (photos, videos, status updates, links, etc.). The higher the weight, the higher the score.

Time Decay: As a post ages it continually loses value.

Page vs. Profile vs. Groups

Pages are for businesses and are entirely open to the public and search engines. Pages can also have applications and custom tabs to help engage with your audiences. You can have as many Pages as you want and there are no limits on the numbers of fans (likes) you can have.

Profiles are for your personal use and represent you as a person. On your profile you have “friends”. You can have up to 5000 friends and you’re allowed to “like” up to 500 pages. You’re only allowed to have one personal profile. You can control your visibility with the privacy settings.

Groups are for people who share a common interest. Group members can participate in chats, upload photos to shared albums, collaborate on group docs and invite members who are friends to group events. In Groups, there are 3 Privacy Options: Open, Closed or Secret.

Facebook Terms of Service (TOS)

Breaking Facebook rules may result in having your page shutdown without notice. Be familiar with the TOS. Keep in mind that TOS may change without noticed as we recently saw with the Cover image rules. Visit Facebook to learn more https://www.facebook.com/policies.

Insights

By using the Page and Post Export option in your Facebook Page insights, you will have valuable data to help you understand how people use your Page and what works best for your business. Facebook insights can provide valuable data to help you measure your Page success. Keep track of your numbers and adjust accordingly!

Tool ALERT: I discovered a really great Facebook Page analytic tool you may want to try, take a look at Shoork (review to come shortly).

Help Section

Facebook Help section can provide valuable information and is often underused. If you’re stuck, visit the help section first! Visit Facebook for more https://www.facebook.com/help/pages.

6. Use Facebook’s Features

Vanity URL

Post Targeting

Pinned Posts

Highlighted Posts

Featured Likes

Custom Tabs

Events

Post scheduler

Offers

Promoted Posts

Milestone

Questions

7. Respond to All Comments

Yikes…Only around 30% of brands respond to comments (source: Socialbakers.com). Respond to ALL comments and make sure your settings ( under Manage Permissions) allows for people to post on your Page and your Page has turned on ”messages”, so that people can send you private messages.

10. Provide Value

The 80/20 rule. Try publishing around 80% original and curated content that provides value to your followers and no more than 20% promotional content. Promotional content includes selling your products or services, posting about how great your customer find your business (unless your clients post it directly on your wall), showing your work or portfolio, promotion of your accomplishments, etc.

Relevant Content. Provide a mix of content related to your products or services. All too often we see Pages that post about random topics that are totally unrelated to their business. Don’t stray too far off your topic!

What’s In It for Them? Whenever you post to your page, remember that your page visitors want to know “what’s in it for them”. Be mindful of the content your post on your page to make sure you provide value to your visitors and fans. Most Facebook users Like pages to:

receive discounts or promotions

stay informed

Get entertained

Interact and connect

Get Educated

Show support

Bonus Tip!

Don’t put all your eggs in Facebook’s basket! Facebook can be a great marketing tool, but it still needs to be supported by other channels.

]]>http://vasimpleservices.com/top-10-must-read-tips-to-run-a-successful-facebook-business-page/feed3http://vasimpleservices.com/top-10-must-read-tips-to-run-a-successful-facebook-business-pageLinkedIn Invitations: Everything You Need to Knowhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vasimpleservices/zKkS/~3/RWdkcsbQAA4/linkedin-invitations-everything-you-need-to-know
http://vasimpleservices.com/linkedin-invitations-everything-you-need-to-know#commentsThu, 02 May 2013 16:49:57 +0000http://vasimpleservices.com/?p=3891Most knowledgeable LinkedIn users would agree that best practice when sending an invitation to connect on LinkedIn should include a personal note introducing yourself and expressing why you want to connect.

Although I personally don’t think it’s a crime to send a generic LinkedIn connection request, a well-crafted personal message will always increase your chances of connecting with the recipient. This is probably true for all social networks.

Generally, the fact that I get generic invitations is usually not the reason why I reject connection requests. When receiving a generic invitation from someone, I always check their LinkedIn Profile to see if they’re someone who I want to connect with.

If the LinkedIn profile is not complete or doesn’t clearly tell me who they are, the chance of being a connection is pretty much zero.

Here’s a recent invitation I received which contained the LinkedIn generic message.

After receiving it, I checked the profile. It didn’t take long for me to reject this invitation. Here’s why:

No Business Name.Including your business name or companies you worked for will give you added credibility.

No connections. This is not really a reason to reject an invitation but when looking at the entire profile, it can make me suspicious if your profile is not complete.

Fake picture. This is obviously not the real picture for this LinkedIn user. Tip: Always use a professional self-portrait.

Profile not filled out. What’s the point of being on LinkedIn if your profile is not filled out?

The importance of a well optimized and complete profile is undeniable and it’s imperative that you make the right impression. Don’t forget that LinkedIn often appears at the top of search results which is a golden opportunity to get more visibility for your business.

Before sending any invitations to connect, make sure your profile is complete.

What You Should Know About LinkedIn Invitations

You have a limit of 30,000 first degree connections.

You have a limit of 3000 invitations you can send.

When you reach your invitation limit, you can contact Linkedin to request an increase. LinkedIn will consider the acceptance ratio of invitations you’ve previously sent in their analysis but invitation increase is not guaranteed.

To find out how many invitation you’ve already sent, click on the “Contacts” tab and then go to the bottom right of the page and select “Sent Invitation”. If you don’t see the word “accepted” beside the contact name, this probably means that they haven’t answered your request. It’s also possible that they clicked on “don’t accept yet”, “ignore” or “report as spam”. At the bottom, you should see the total number invitations you have already sent.

Withdrawing invitations doesn’t return them to your balance of available invitations.

A restriction on your account is automatically triggered if too many invitations are declined by recipients with the “I don’t know” response or if it’s flagged as spam. This means that you may not be allowed to send any further invitations to connect without an email address until your restriction is lifted. To Unrestrict your account click on http://www.linkedin.com/unrestrict?display.

LinkedIn automatically sends reminder emails to Invitation recipients who have not yet responded to your Invitation. No more than two reminders are ever sent.

LinkedIn may ask that you enter the recipients email address when inviting them. Usually, you’ll get this if:

i. The recipient’s settings are set to only receive invitations from members who know their email address.

ii. You’ve reached the limit of invitations you can send without email addresses to people you’ve identified as a “Friend” during the invitation process.

]]>http://vasimpleservices.com/linkedin-invitations-everything-you-need-to-know/feed1http://vasimpleservices.com/linkedin-invitations-everything-you-need-to-know10 Essential Elements to Create a Successful Online Businesshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vasimpleservices/zKkS/~3/ub4Qsgi2uwY/10-essential-elements-to-create-a-successful-online-business
http://vasimpleservices.com/10-essential-elements-to-create-a-successful-online-business#respondFri, 26 Apr 2013 13:16:06 +0000http://vasimpleservices.com/?p=3865There are many factors that will impact the success of your business. With the increasing number of businesses moving online, the competition is huge!

Many of those businesses will fail but there are certain basic elements you can establish to help turn your online business into a successful one.

1. You can’t push your product or service if it’s crappy!

A great product or service and a strong business model is essential. It doesn’t matter how much marketing your do, if you don’t have a solid business (which is your foundation), you’re setting yourself up for failure.

“You can put lipstick on a pig…but it’s still a pig”.

2. You have to offer something people want and need

Understand your market and their needs. By identifying their pain points, you’ll be able to offer a compelling solution.

“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” Peter Drucker

3. Make a good first impression and have a clear message

People don’t want to search to figure out what you’re selling. Provide tangible value your customers will receive by buying your products or services.

Your website, marketing materials and the way you present yourself on and offline is a direct reflection on the way you conduct your business.

“Regardless of the changes in technology, the market for well-crafted messages will always have an audience.” Steve Burnett

4. Make it a good user experience

Make sure your website is easy to navigate

Pay attention to both function and aesthetics

Don’t overwhelm your visitors with ads

Don’t make website visitors jump through hoops to get what they’re looking for (including your free offers)

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works”. Steve Jobs

5. Put your customers first. It’s not about you!

People really don’t care about you, your business or what you’re selling. Your customers only care about what your business can do for them and how you can solve their problems-what’s in it for them.

Focus on how you can help your customers and avoid excessive self-promotion (continually talking about your business and products or how great you are).

“I am wired like a CEO and care a great deal about the bottom line, but I care about my customers even more than that. That’s always been my competitive advantage”. Gary Vaynerchuk

6. Make it social

Allow your audience to be involved in your community and connect with your business to create more meaningful relationships.

By being a social business, it will help to humanize your brand, make you more accessible and drive your audience to inter­act with it even more.

“Social marketing eliminates the middlemen, providing brands the unique opportunity to have a direct relationship with their customers”. Bryan Weiner

7. Educate

Assist your prospects during the purchase journey by educating them about your products or services.

Producing helpful content that will educate your visitors is the best way to portray yourself as a leader in your field and will make your business accessible 24/7 which would be impossible to do if you were solely an offline business.

“Blogs are about sharing with authenticity. A good enterprise blog can help you really connect deeply with your customers in a meaningful way because the content is not only relevant but insightful and personal. I think most enterprises miss that point.

When you do it right, your customers will walk away not only having learned something new but will also feel much more connected to your brand”. David Armano

8. Keep track of your supporters, fans and advocates

Providing a unique and personal experience requires knowing and understanding your audience. A CRM system can help you identify, categorize or segment your target audience.

By tailoring your communications, you will be able to provide a more personal experience and develop deeper and stronger relationships with your audience.

“Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your project or service, and that bring friends with them” W. Edwards Deming

9. Do something unexpected and delight

Sadly, the bar is not set very high when it comes to customer service. Exceeding people’s expectations by showing how much you value their business with simple gestures will make your business memorable.

According to Ipsos, a global independent market research company, “delighted customers are 5 times more likely to plan on repurchasing than merely satisfied customers”.

This doesn’t have to apply to only your current customers. Think about how you can also be memorable with your prospects, employees, peers and with your audience in general.

“Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, ‘Make me feel important.’ Never forget this message when working with people”. Mary Kay Ash

10. Be helpful

Help people solve their problems, give without expectations and provide value.

“It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed”. Napoleon Hill

Of course there are many other important factors to consider which may influence the success of your business. Making sure that you have a solid foundation will increase your chances of succeeding with your online business.

]]>http://vasimpleservices.com/10-essential-elements-to-create-a-successful-online-business/feed0http://vasimpleservices.com/10-essential-elements-to-create-a-successful-online-businessSocial Media Marketing: Get Out Now…You’re Doomed to Fail!http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vasimpleservices/zKkS/~3/xAwHUxoEQnw/social-media-marketing-get-out-now-youre-doomed-to-fail
http://vasimpleservices.com/social-media-marketing-get-out-now-youre-doomed-to-fail#commentsFri, 19 Apr 2013 14:36:34 +0000http://vasimpleservices.com/?p=3851You’re a small business owner and have spent some of your hard earned money on social media marketing, hired people to setup your Facebook Page, Twitter account, YouTube Channel and LinkedIn Business Page. You’ve even hired a social media “expert” to post on your social media channels a few times per week. You’re also thinking that maybe you should start pinning some pictures on Pinterest because your sister in-law said it was the next big thing.

The only problem is that although everyone seems to be doing it, you just don’t get it! You’re not really getting new business from it and you can’t help wondering if you’re wasting your money on this social media “thing”.

Sounds familiar? If you’ve jumped blindly into social media and have no clue WHY, might as well get out now because you’re doomed to fail!

By not setting goals and objectives, you can’t effectively measure your success which will leave you frustrated and disappointed. Clearly defining and understanding what you’re attempting to accomplish with social media should be your first step.

Start from the Beginning

Setting social media goals should be a reflection of your overall business goals.

Find the Answers

Before jumping into social media, you need to do your research and ask yourself several questions.

The more specific you are at setting goals, the easier it will be to measure the effectiveness. Example: increase website traffic by 30% in the next 6 months.

Time

The truth is Social Media takes time and is a long term process. If you’re not fully committed on spending regular time on this, it’s going to be very difficult to see any progress. Determining the amount of time that you can realistically spend on your social media marketing will help you decide where you should spend your efforts.

Educate Yourself

You may not need to know how to set up a Facebook Page but it’s important to at least understand the big picture. As a small business owner, you may choose to stay away from the details but you should understand the process, be involved in the planning stages and keep track of the results.

If you’re responsible for all aspects of your social media campaign, you’ll obviously have to understand and learn the process as well as being familiar with the different tools.

Remember

By setting realistic expectations, time-frame and clear goals, you’ll be able to better focus and have direction for your social media campaign. Keep in mind that reviewing your efforts and making appropriate adjustments is also part of the process.

It’s also important to note that social media is not there to replace all other forms of marketing; it’s only a small piece of the pie which works best in conjunction with other channels.